Your Right to Know

On Monday, Ohio Republican Chairman Matt Borges testified in federal court that the party was
not behind the challenge of Libertarian candidates for governor and attorney general. (And he said
he misspoke in late February when he told reporters that the Ohio GOP
did play a role in the challenges.)

But in a ruling on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson said “to state the obvious,”
testimony and evidence in the case “supports an inference that operatives or supporters of the Ohio
Republican Party orchestrated the protest” by lining up a “guileless dupe” to file the challenge.
Party spokesman Chris Schrimpf said after the decision that the Republican judge got it wrong,
because the party had no role in attempting to knock the Libertarians off the ballot, an action
that is believed to benefit GOP candidates.

Watson also said the Ohio Democratic Party helped gather Libertarian candidates’ petition
signatures — although party spokeswoman Meredith Tucker pointed out that he included the same “or
its operatives or supporters” caveat.

Watson ruled that the names of the Libertarian Party candidates should not appear on Ohio
ballots.

Gov. John Kasich’s challenger Ed FitzGerald keeps pounding on the incumbent by saying his
policies favor the rich, adding to a national problem of income inequality.

“Gov. Kasich didn’t create it, but he’s making a bad situation worse,” the Cuyahoga County
executive said. “Governors can either push in the right direction, or they can push in the wrong
direction. ... Tax cuts for millionaires is pushing in the wrong direction.”

So will the Democrat’s entire gubernatorial campaign center on class warfare?

“That’s a very loaded term,” FitzGerald said. “Even when the pope talks about income inequality,
some people call that class warfare. Is talking about the fact that poor people are struggling and
that people who are doing very, very well are doing better class warfare?”

The Center for Responsive Politics was among those incorrectly picking Ohio State University to
win its initial game of this year’s NCAA basketball tournament, although the Washington, D.C.,
nonprofit predicted a loss in the second round.

Its methodology? Comparing the amounts that universities shelled out for lobbying the federal
government. While OSU’s $260,000 easily topped the University of Dayton’s $100,000, it fell short
of the $300,000 spent by Syracuse University, the Buckeyes’ projected next opponent.

The eventual champ? The University of Texas in a blowout at $922,000 over the $697,410 for
lobbying from the University of Colorado.